Rivers turn ferocious, dams overflow: Punjab battles worst floods in years

Only a few months ago, voices were raised declaring that Punjab would not get a single drop of water. Today, however, the situation is the exact opposite — floodwaters have engulfed the state. No region has been spared. Villages lie submerged, crops have been ruined, and normal life is in complete disarray as people everywhere pray for relief.

The warning signs became evident when reports of cloudbursts, flash floods, and heavy rainfall began pouring in from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. Punjab lies at the foothills of these mountains, where numerous rivers — big, small, and seasonal — descend into its plains. These rivers are a source of fertility in normal times, but when they swell in fury, devastation follows, as is now being witnessed across Punjab.

At almost every point where these rivers enter Punjab, large dams and reservoirs have been constructed. During excessive rainfall, these dams quickly fill to capacity, creating the risk of collapse. To prevent such disasters, water is released, which often becomes the primary cause of floods downstream.

This year, water levels crossed danger marks in all major dams, including Pong, Ranjit Sagar, Bhakra Nangal, and Shahpur Kandi, leaving no choice but to release water. On 28 August, the volume in the Beas river rose to 2.30 lakh cusecs, compared to the usual 14,400 cusecs. The surge was so powerful that it broke the gates of the Madhopur Headworks on the Ravi river near Pathankot, sending torrents of water rushing into nearby villages.

The floods have caused the greatest devastation in Fazilka and Ferozepur, the cotton belt of Punjab. In these districts alone, nearly 14,200 acres of land lie submerged, and the cotton crop that once stood tall in the fields has been completely wiped out.

Punjab is also crisscrossed by an extensive network of irrigation canals that originate from these very rivers. In normal times, these canals serve as lifelines, carrying water to thirsty farmlands. But during the monsoon, the same canals turn into channels of destruction, transporting floodwaters deep into villages located far away from the rivers themselves.

It is not only the mighty rivers like the Jhelum, Ravi, and Beas that have unleashed their fury — even smaller rivers have swollen into dangerous torrents. Among them is the Bein, once a serene and sacred stream. Barely two decades ago, it had degenerated into a filthy drain, but a massive campaign was launched to revive and clean it, particularly near the revered gurudwara of Guru Nanak Dev at Sultanpur Lodhi.

That campaign bore fruit, and the river regained its purity. Today, however, the Bein too has turned violent; floodwaters have submerged the historic gurudwara at Sultanpur Lodhi, images of which are now circulating widely in the media.

Current estimates suggest that more than 50,000 acres of Punjab stand inundated, of which over half is fertile, cultivable land. To combat the crisis, 28 army columns and 22 battalions of the CRPF have been deployed, working round the clock to evacuate stranded residents and provide relief. Alongside, numerous voluntary organisations have stepped in to assist with rescue and aid operations. Meanwhile, the Indian Meteorological Department has predicted that heavy rains may persist for the next several days, implying that the flood situation is unlikely to ease before then.

The floods in Punjab have once again exposed the state’s deep vulnerability to extreme weather events and the fragile balance between rivers, dams, and human settlements. While rescue and relief operations continue, the long-term challenge lies in building better flood management systems and safeguarding agriculture, which remains the backbone of Punjab’s economy. For now, the people of Punjab wait anxiously for the skies to clear, hoping for respite from the rising waters.